Running Through These Missions Like Drano

Mission:

Mission:

It was another beautiful day here at Mikadzuki Beach. While he appeared to be able to exit from and reenter the dimension at will, he was currently out traveling in the wilderness of Rice Country with no set base camp to call home. Thusly, instead of leaving the dimension to establish a makeshift shelter and leave himself open to potential attacks from wildlife and unsavory characters, Ko had resolved that it would be much more prudent of him to find himself somewhere within the mostly peaceful confines of Mikadzuki beach to rest his head each night.

Under these circumstance, Kosuke found himself residing temporarily within a makeshift bungalow that had fallen into a state of disrepair since presumably being abandoned by the previous resident. There had been a couple of issues with the place that Ko had worked to resolve in order to prevent any unfortunate accidents. First had been the sliding doors which had been worn down over time and been knocked loose from the tracks intended to hold them in place. On top of that there had been a number of boards in the floor that had collapsed completely and need replacing. Lastly there were a number of spots in the roof of the structure that were completely missing and left the inside exposed to the whims of mother nature.

He had worked around his village helping here and there with construction projects while growing up and that experience was paying off now as Ko was able to perform the necessary repairs without much issue. The patch job certainly was nothing pretty to look at but it was functionally sound and that was good enough for the time being. The endeavor itself had taken a few days of work over the course of a couple evenings but the work had been good training for him as he pushed his body to be in a condition more fit for the rigors of a shinobi lifestyle.

Kosuke had been developing a routine over the week or so since literally stumbling into this pocket dimension and settling in to this new home. Each morning Ko would rise early in the morning and prepare himself a cup of tea while measuring the level of ambient luck associated with the day. The following breakfast preparation would be intended to provide him enough energy to get through the day until he could enjoy a late lunch a bit after midday. Normally he would then prepare his outfit for the day but that aspect of his routine had been drastically reduced while on the beach; most days Ko found himself dressed in some variety of shorts and flip-flops.

With all of the preparation done Ko had been undergoing a fitness and training regime to build up endurance and get himself into reasonably fit shape. The goal for each morning workout was a staggered distance run that increased in range each day by 500 meters. The staggering came in the form of a set of 20 pushups and sit-ups at every 200 meter interval along the run. During the run itself Ko was focusing his attention on studying from books he had acquired that covered different aspects of shinobi training and lifestyle. His mother had obviously not taught him everything about the world of ninja before her passing and the things she had taught him may have advanced or stopped practice and that wasn't even including the political landscape which had most assuredly shifted over the past 10 years since he and his father became isolated from that world.

"Ah, it seems favor is smiling on me today." Ko was relishing in his morning tea as he stepped out of the bungalow and observed the cloud cover in the sky. If his luck held the sun would remain hidden behind the cloudy sky and grant him a reprieve from the continued and constant heat rays he had been dealing with on the beach. He had developed a manner of tan in his time here that was making the experience more bearable but he still remained more comfortable in shaded areas outside of the sun's direct influence.

Finishing the tea with a gulp of satisfaction, Kosuke returned the cup back to its place within the shelter and chowed down on some food he had prepared the previous day before changing into his beach clothes. Striding down the steps of the bungalow, Ko made his way out of the tree cover, across the undisturbed sand, and down to the water line while making sure to keep his feet just out of reach of the water as it crashed onto the beach.

---

WC: 773

This time of day was always comfortable for Ko and as it let him unwind and relax on the beach without getting beat down by the heat of the usually clear skies and bright sun. If he had the luxury of time he would journey out into the waters and enjoy a nice calming swim, letting himself be pushed and pulled by the tides as he tried to flow comfortably with the waves as if they were one. This all was so much more unusual than the life he had been living and what he expected his life would be like going into the future. From growing up as a medical assistant with the capacity of a ninja in a family clinic to being ushered from his home on a journey of self-discovery of his talents due to the tumultuous times taking place in his home country. Then just after embarking on his journey he was plucked away as if by fate to this land of sand and waves where he had been given the opportunity to meet and interact with all manner of shinobi. Each of the people he had met was a crucial cog in his understanding of the ways of shinobi and he felt that he had grown immensely since arriving here at Mikadzuki Beach.

Today he would be on his own however. All the training he had done over the previous weeks had been leading up to this day. On the calendar of events for the beach there had been both a marathon and a surfing competition posted to take place on the same day albeit at different times of day. Most people that would be interested in these events would probably pick one or the other to compete in while letting themselves rest as they watched the other, but Kosuke had decided early on that he would not only compete in both events but that he would achieve a flawless victory. 

One driving factor was of course the prize of ryo that was being offered to the winner of each event. This was especially poignant for him as he had realized the importance of financial stability since departing from the security of his home. Everything he would need to buy from this point on would have to be earned by his own deeds. The other important factor for him was a test of his stamina. He had grown more and more keenly aware of the physical rigors that he would need to deal with in the course of his work as a shinobi and the events of the day seemed like the perfect way to test how he was doing in that regard. After all, if he didn't have the endurance to compete and win in two sporting events against civilians then how could he or anyone else trust him to get the job done when lives were at stake and the pressure was on?

"Ah yes, it seems that it is about time to head over to the starting point." There would be no workout routines today. Instead, Ko headed into his hutch and grabbed his lucky charm for the day, a necklace with a carved wooden pendant. It was a shoddy piece of work, but Ko was proud of it nonetheless and a warm comforting feeling radiated throughout his body. 

It was a short trek over to the starting point of the race. The sun was still being held at bay by the thinning clouds. It seemed that his hopes of a fully overcast beach day were becoming more dim, but he wouldn't let any of that spoil his mood. Today he had a personal mission to accomplish and the heat was the least of his worries. The same couldn't be said about his competition for the race. It seemed the ryo prize had done well to bring in a cadre of impressive looking athletes with their hopes set on the prize as well as a variety of other beachgoers that seemed to just want to try their luck and maybe impress their friends. The starting line was getting crowded as the starting time got closer and closer. Then with a few minutes left a voice boomed over a loudspeaker.

"Hello and welcome to all our participants for today's beach marathon race. This will be a five mile race the ends at the lighthouse. As for the rules, stay on the sand and be respectful to the other racers. No tripping, pushing, or interference of any kind will be tolerated. And last, remember to have fun! There will be a prerace whistle in 3 minutes and then the actual race whistle in 5, make sure you are ready."

Ko tried to get a last look to see if there was anyone he recognized from his time on the beach but none of the faces stood out. Before long the first whistle sounded and all the chatter began to die down as people jockeyed for the last spots along the starting line and settled in for the countdown. 

"10... 9... 8...- 4... 3... 2... 1... PHWEEEE!"

And just like that everyone was off! Five miles was quite the distance so Ko decided it would be best for him to pace himself well to ensure he could go the distance. Many people blew through with a full head of steam at the start that caused a number of the more casual participants to back out early on into the race, but those people soon became the instruments of their own demise. Insufficient preparation in terms of stretching caused some to develop cramps and a good number of the rest dropped way behind as they struggled to maintain their breathing after the initial burst. After things stabilized at the 2 mile mark there was a solid group at the head that was substantially ahead of the rest of the participants. At that point it basically was just a battle between a group of 7 individuals. Ko himself was towards the back of that group but maintaining a steady and stable pace. He could certainly accelerate ahead of the group as things currently stood but he also needed to make sure he didn't wear himself out too much and become unable to perform in the surfing competition later.

Around the 3 mile mark the back half of the group that had been just ahead of Ko the whole time started to fall back and behind as it became more clear that they would have a tough time making it all the way to the end, let alone overtaking the ones at the front of the group. Now, after around the 4 mile mark, it looked like the race was going to be a 3 way fight at the finish. Ko decided that it might be time to give himself a burst of speed to get out ahead of the others in a effort to force them to exhaust their energy reserves before getting to the final stretch. Each of the three was concentrating fully on the task at hand so when Ko easily slipped past the two leaders in the race the brief shock of it caused the 2 competitors to lose their concentration and a significant amount of breath as their concentration broke. That was all the opening that Ko needed. The lead  only continued to grow from that point as the other racers quickly drained of their energy and hope of winning.

Ko was coming up on the lighthouse quickly as the finish line and excited crowd came in to view. It was a much more sparse gathering than had been at the start of the race which made sense considering the remoteness of this area of the beach. The cheers grew in excitement and crested as Ko crossed the line, claiming victory as he went. The celebration was short lived for Kosuke however, as now he needed to make his way back the the starting point of the race so that he could make it to the surfing competition. Luckily he had a reasonable gap of time and would be able to take his time to comfortably get back and hopefully re-energize himself along the way.

---

WC: 1372
TWC: 2145